Fazel, the former Minister of Health, says that in the next 10 years, we will be forced to either import doctors or send patients abroad for treatment.
Iraj Fazel, President of the Society of Surgeons and former Minister of Health, warned about the current situation faced by the medical community.
Iraj Fazel stated that the consequences of the issues created for medical students, such as the shortage of doctors and the vacancies in specialized fields, will gradually manifest with the serious risk of importing doctors and the need to send patients abroad. These accumulated problems will lead to the decline of medicine in Iran. Today, there is a serious problem with the interest in studying medicine in entrance exams or continuing education in specialized medical fields. For instance, in recent exams, we did not have even a single candidate for vascular surgery, and similarly, some other specialized fields remain vacant. In 10 years, we will have to import specialists in these fields from abroad and send patients abroad for specialized surgeries again.
He continued, these problems have arisen despite the immense efforts made over past decades to make the country’s medical field shine. However, factors aiming to impoverish the nation’s doctors have created scenarios of problems. With such conditions, I do not see a good future at all, and we will return to the previous position. Some ignorant people think they are serving the public with these scenarios, but the main goal of these individuals is more insidious than that. The main aim has been to destroy the future of medicine in this country, and of course, one should ask them what benefit they gain from this situation. However, in my opinion, these actions are a form of treason against the country.